There are recurring issues in the forums which are often the subject of commentary in our articles. These questions cover several steps in using Hollywood FX transitions. We have already provided many answers with either tutorials, by answers to comments, or in our FAQ HFX, which aren't used nearly enough. This tutorial attempts to gather together all the information we have already published and adding some points that have not yet been addressed.

Step 1 : Extracting HFZ files

The basic information has been covered in the "Tuto-1 Files with .HFZ extension" tutorial. Also, if you're not familiar with the subject, read these notes: "Before downloading special HFX effects, please read these notes".

The various problems that can happen to you:

1. I double click the file icon but nothing happens :

When you double click on a file name or icon, the command that is in bold in the context menu is the one that runs (Open in this case). Sometimes this command is grayed out (inactive) or the "Open" command is no longer linked to any executable program. By right-clicking the icon and clicking "Open with ..." make sure the file is linked to the executable program "InstallHFZ" and that the checkbox "Always use this program ..." is checked.

2. Extraction is done correctly, but the transition is not visible in Hollywood FX :
   Did you close Hollywood FX before starting the extraction? NO? ... then exit Hollywood FX and extract the HFZ file again.
3. Extraction is done correctly but I get messages "* ERROR : Unable to install file"
   Re-read the reference (3) in"Before downloading special HFX effects, please read these notes".

4. I cannot unpack all the HFZ files that I have just downloaded :
   This is a new phenomenon that appeared with Vista and had not been seen with XP. Vista does not extract the selected HFZ files when the sum of their sizes is too large. Double-clicking the selected files does nothing and right-clicking on selected files does not show the "Open" or "Open with .." context menu. Select only 30, 40, or 50 files (depending on their individual size) then right-click on the selected files, the "Open" option will be available. Click "Open" and the extraction of files begins. All you need to do is repeat the operation with another batch of files until you are done.

5. When I extract a HFZ file, Studio (12 or 14) asked me to insert the installation disc :
   Sometimes with the first unpacking of an HFZ file in a session, Studio launches a procedure to begin installation.

I don't really know the reason for this happening. I suppose that during the content transfer, some items did not appear on the computer and the extraction file contains these objects. Studio needs them for further installation. But this is only speculation ... As time goes on, and more unpacking is done, the requests become less and less frequent or stop altogether as in my case now.

The installation process is divided into 3 phases:

• Search for items to install (1 to 2 minutes) (Phase 1)
• Request to begin the installation DVD (Phase 2)
• Do the installation (1 minute) (Phase 3)

Just follow the instructions on the screen. At the end of the procedure, extraction is automatically launched.

6. Everything went well but some of my transitions have a watermark:
   Check out our FAQ "Why do I have watermark on my HFX transition ?" and "Before downloading special HFX effects, please read these notes" in our Free HFX page. Download possibly InstallHFZ.exe file. This file, provided by Pinnacle, can help in some cases to obtain more unlocked transitions than usually come with Studio (Do not execute it, check the FAQ: Error message: "This application has failed to start because HfxClasses60.dll was not found...").
    
7. I read the previous FAQ and some transitions should be unlocked, yet ...:
   Reread the reference (4) in "Before downloading special HFX effects, please read these notes".

Step 2 : Showing the Transitions in Studio

The basic information has been provided in the "Tip-1 HFX effects do not appear in Studio" and "Tip-2 My HFX thumbnails in Studio are black" tutorials. In each case, ever since Studio 10, it is necessary to force Studio to recreate its listing of transitions in order to include the new transitions in the album.

All the incidents revolve around a common theme: "I see my transitions in Hollywood FX but I do not see them in Studio".

1. I did all the previous steps but I still can not see my transitions:
   It is sometimes necessary to know where to look for them...

If you have applied the "Tip-1 HFX effects do not appear in Studio" tutorial to the letter, and especially if you ran the batch program (which reduces manual errors) provided by this tutorial, the transitions must be in Studio ... except :

• If you did not run the batch program which corresponds to your version of Studio and to your OS:
• If the batch program ended abnormally;
• If you did not have administrator rights to run this batch file;
• If you did not disable the account control (UAC) in Vista and Win7.
• If you did not close Studio prior to running the batch file.

How does Studio 12 or Studio 14 classify the transitions?

When Studio creates the transitions album, it uses three criteria contained in the description file of the transition: The heading: what is grayed-out in the dropdown list (STANDARD TRANSITIONS, HFX VOLUME 1, VOLUME 2 HFX, HFX VOLUME 3, USER TRANSITIONS, 3D PARTY TRANSITIONS); The folder: this is what is contained under a heading (Hollywood FX for Studio, Flying Windows, etc..). The name of the transition that will be used to display the thumbnail in the album page. Peculiarities : If you save all your personal transitions in Hollywood FX in a folder named "Perso" for example, you may find them scattered in the Studio dropdown list. Because if you create the entire transition yourself, Studio places it in the "Perso" folder under the heading "USER TRANSITIONS". But if it's is a modified transition from HFX VOLUME 1, it will be placed in a "Perso" folder at the end of the contents of HFX VOLUME 1. The same goes for HFX VOLUME 2 and HFX VOLUME 3. If you edit an existing transition and then you save it with exactly the same name in another folder, Studio does not display it anywhere ... Finally, Studio wants to help you and translate the English words contained in Hollywood FX into French in Studio. The file "Flying Windows" from HFX will be displayed "Fenêtres volantes" in Studio. But if, in addition to your "Perso", you create a "TEST" folder in capital letters in Hollywood FX, it displays "Essai" with only the first letter capitalized. For fun, I changed a transition from volume 3 and I have saved it under another name in a folder that I called "CAR" in HFX. The transition is found in a folder "Voiture" at the end of HFX Volume 3 -see beside (normal, no, considering what what I have just explained you?).

Here are some examples of XML to better understand:

The XML for a transition of Volume 3.
The XML of the same transition of Volume 3 edited and saved in my "Perso" folder.
The XML of a transition entirely created by the user.
In Studio 10 and 11, the property rackname was not always fill.	This explains the presence of a white line (header blank) before certain issues such as Déclic-Vidéo for example. Note: I strongly discourages any attempt to change these files ...

2. I do not see the header for HFX Volume...:
   Check out our FAQ "HFX Vol. 1 and HFX Vol. 3 do not show up in drop-down list (S 12)".

3. My transitions are present in the album but the display is bad in Studio :
   Often the problem is the graphics card driver is not updated, but there may be other causes.
   Check out our FAQ "Some Transitions are not Being Adequately Rendered".

4. When I double click a transition, I can not edit it :
   Check out our FAQ " I can not edit a transition, why ?".
5. How do I remove a transition in the Studio album?
   You can not perform this operation. You can only delete a transition from Hollywood FX and, in most cases, it will force Studio to recreate the transitions album to eliminate the transition from the album.

Step 3 : Some Peculiarities of Hollywood FX

1. I can not delete a folder in Hollywood FX:
   To delete a folder, it must be completely empty. If you have a few transitions in this folder, delete them one by one with the "Delete" command from the context menu then you can delete the folder with the command "Delete File" from the context menu. In most cases it will be necessary to force Studio to recreate its album. If you have a lot...
   Check out our FAQ "How to delete an HFX effect or an HFX category".
2. I have a transition icon which is grey and I cannot erase it any more :
   Check out our FAQ "One of my transition is shown with a "grey box". I can not delete it.".
3. The modifications which I made to a transition are not saved:
   It is a known random bug ... Before re-saving a transition, move the slider to get another view of the thumbnail, always watch the thumbnail during the recording: if the thumbnail does not change, the changes are not taken into account. Then save your transition with a new name, certainly not with the same name (See point 2 above).
4. When I export a transition with "File / Export HFZ..." the exported transition does not correspond to the transition that I just modified:
   Don't forget to save your transition before exporting. The export takes into account only the last saved version of the transition.

I think I have explained all tips, special cases, bugs ... but I promise to update this tutorial if you discover other interesting things.

{Thanks to Malobar who translated this tutorial from french to english, Loosecannon who cross-checked it}